InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Eye noes."

The thorough application of bruise paste in the house, where she didn't have to hide it now, had done its job on reducing the bruise and probably by Boxing Day it would be completely gone. It had long since stopped hurting, for which Florrie was grateful. She wanted to think about anything but the ongoing family drama and the party she wasn't at.

Instead she was going to think about the party she was going to help with. "I think every healthy recipe I've considered except the fruity Santas is really meant for summer. Winter is for hearty foods and there's a lot of fat in them. I know people need it with all the cold, but I wish I could think of something hearty and healthy that wasn't a soup."

"Then don't go healthy," Meaghan said. It was easy for her to say, she wasn't preparing anything for any dinner or party. Catriona -- perhaps rightly -- didn't trust her cooking unless she was supervising it, and most of her friends knew better than to ask her to bring anything without very specific instructions, and possibly pictures. Even then you couldn't be completely sure that she wouldn't go rogue. Meaghan had her own ideas about what constituted a good party, or a good meal for that matter.

"Or bring soup. Won't kill anyone to not eat healthy for a night. Or to eat soup, probably."

"I meant for Friday next, Meaghan," Florrie clarified. "And soup's never good for a standing party. Too easy to spill. It needs to be all little finger foods so people can chat and not worry about their robes ending up decorated." She sighed. "I can't even ask Gabi for cheese bread since she'll be in Brazil."

"Oh," Meaghan said, and shrugged. Florrie was going to her brother's for the night so she just figured it was about that. She didn't really know the details of that one. Wasn't her family, she wasn't going.

"I thought it was all worked out already?" It was going to be sooner, after all, and just got pushed back at practically last minute. They hadn't been able to get much done without Florrie around but there were about five types of biscuits with freshness charms on them in the kitchen and a cake with the same in her closet (the last being a surprise for Joy). They had the drinks figured out too, and might not even have to keep the stuff without booze if Pip couldn't make it. "You ain't adding more, are you?"

Florrie had the good grace to look apologetic. It hadn't occurred to her that her housemates might take her desire to feed everyone healthy food as an insult to their cookery or party preparations, "Well, I didn't put anything in at all before, because of all the fuss, and then we put it off, so I thought the least I could do was make a few dishes for everyone to enjoy. And if that means there are more things left over, more for us."

Meaghan shrugged. She had hardly any cookery skills, when it came down to it, which was why her mum supervised. Everything she'd provided for the party she'd bought. "No skin off mine but you ain't gotta fash over it. 'Specially don't gotta give 'em a full meal or nothin'. You got enough goin' on, yeah? It ain't your job to feed everyone."

Florrie smiled, a bit wanly. "It seems like a normal thing to do, to plan for a party. I think that's why it's appealing, when everything else is up in the air. But I appreciate it--you saying that I don't have to--a lot." Everything did feel up in the air and wrong. She was supposed to be at the MacFusty family event and even though by this time of the afternoon she was usually itching to find a little private space and not have to talk to any more of her cousins, she was missing the familiar rituals. "You know, I expected Joy to be here if she wasn't going to get a portkey to Australia, but I thought you might spend the day with your mum and brother. Or is that tomorrow for you?"

"Uh, yeah," Meaghan said, gaze wandering away from Florrie and over to the wall. "Ain't done the Eve since -- in yonks, don't make sense to have both." All the Christmas Eve stuff they'd done before had been kiddy anyways and it had been a long time since there were any kids in her family. There weren't even in-laws, and never had been since she and Don hadn't made it to Christmas, and Mum and Kirl and Uncle Hamish never married anyone at all.

There were girlfriends, sometimes. Or had been. It'd never gone well. Meaghan and Catriona were very different kinds of intimidating, but both of them together could be overwhelming for the uninitiated, especially at such a high-pressure time. "Just makes us fight or run outta shit to do."

"I can imagine with a small family and no children to occupy you all, it could be a lot," Florrie acknowledged. She put on a brave face to add, "We usually spend the Eve with the MacFusty cousins on the Isle but I didn't quite feel up to that this year."

As someone who didn't like feelings, Meaghan had a decent sense for when they might be about to happen, and Florrie's face was setting off her alarms. But since Florrie'd just gone through actual proper shit, and maybe was still going through it, it was probably not the time to make an excuse to go somewhere else or change the subject. Was it? She could cuss out Ellie all night right now, but she didn't think that's what Florrie was looking for.

"D'you wanna be there?" she asked uncertainly.

Florrie had to think about that for a moment. "I want things to be normal again, but it won't be normal if I go. And I don't want people to make a fuss, because this time of year is hard enough anyhow. So sort of yes, but not really." She shrugged helplessly. "May I ask you a question?"

Well that was way more thought-out than she'd expected, but it hadn't been nearly as bad as she thought either. Surprised but relieved, Meaghan said without thinking, "'Course. Shoot."

"I don't know the Portree ownership and management, but you do. Are they going to give Elsie the sack?" There was a long pause, and then Florrie added, hesitantly, "I mean obviously you don't know, but are they the sort of person who would, because there's been a lot of trouble? Not just this last thing, but--also the Cameron business--and some other things. And I'm worried."

Meaghan stared at Florrie. "They wouldn't," she said, but even as blank as shock made her voice, it had more than a hint of they can't. Because she didn't know management. Not that well, not by what kind of choices they'd make. She stayed out of it mostly, they were just doing the boring shit she didn't care about while she got on and played Quid like people were meant to.

And ownership was the Urquharts. Meaghan definitely didn't really know them, she'd made sure of that. Now she wished she hadn't, that she had a better idea of what Ellie could be facing or some way to stop it. Because they couldn't. They needed Ellie.

"This with you -- s'got nothing to do with her job," she managed to say. It sounded more insistent than it should've.

"I don't think it has to do with her job," Florrie agreed, because whatever had set Ellie off wasn't directly to do with the Pride as far as Florrie could tell (and she was beginning to have a suspicion that inclined the other direction). "But it's not just been me, and if there's a pattern, and if she's been hitting your teammates--" Florrie trailed off. "I think what I'm asking is do I need to go to them and ask them not to sack her? To help her instead, so she doesn't hit people?"

Meaghan opened her mouth to say that she hadn't been hitting her teammates, it'd just been her and Lorna, and both of those were different. Except… it hadn't made things better with Lorna, not like with her. Ellie still wasn't talking to Lorna for some reason. Somehow she didn't think Florrie would take that as proof of things being okay really, especially since they knew now that things really weren't.

"Couldn't hurt, I guess," she said. Florrie was a medic after all, so maybe they'd think her opinion mattered? And she was the one that got hit last, so maybe that mattered too? It probably wouldn't have the same effect if Meaghan marched up and told them to lay off and give Ellie a break.

Florrie sighed. "I don't know what the right thing to do is, and I'm a bit at sea when that happens. It's one thing when she hits me, because I at least am trained to defend myself. But if she hit you or one of the other players--" other than Lorna or Luag, which was a whole different tray of flobberworms "--who felt they couldn't hit back because she's the coach, well. That can't go on. But it's also clear that she's miserable and needs some help, so that's all I can see to do: make sure she get it."

"Hittin' me ain't nothin'," Meaghan said, pulling a face at the thought that Quidditchers couldn't defend themselves. They'd already been there done that anyway, and no worse for the wear. Scrimmy would fight back, she was sure. The other MacFustys too obviously. Ellie'd have to be mad to go after Ickleurk as long as Big Urk was in charge, and who would hit Pip, besides Scrimmy maybe?

Besides reserves, that left Bucky and Joy. She didn't see either of those happening, but she wouldn't've expected Florrie either and they still didn't know why Florrie.

"But I reckon you're right besides that," she said, uncomfortable at the idea of Ellie being miserable. It made sense. That's what she'd do if she was, hit folks, but she'd also never coach, not if her life depended on it. And Ellie was a great coach.

Besides, hitting helped. Mostly. She thought. What else could you do?

"Of course hitting you is something," Florrie said, outraged, and stood up from the sofa where she'd been sitting flipping through annotated recipes from Witch Weekly. "I mean if you really feel uncontrollable anger, punch a bag, not another person. We can all fight back, unless we're too little and don't have a wand, but it always hurts people, and nobody should hurt other people. Did Ellie hit you?"

"Hit each other," Meaghan corrected, her forehead wrinkling. She understood all the words Florrie had used, but as far as the meaning went, it might as well have been Mermish. "But we been doing that for yonks. Thought I told you that. Told Lorna anyways." Maybe she'd just got them confused. Either way, what was the big deal? She was fine.

Florrie came over and offered Meaghan a big hug. "Oh, Meaghan, I didn't know. And I know you're not--Meaghan, you're one of the hearts of Portree, it's different for you--but you understand it's not the same for everybody, don't you?"

"I guess," she said, uncertain why, exactly, she was being hugged, but giving Florrie a there, there pat on her arm, since she seemed upset about it. It was different for Florrie, anyway, she got that -- you didn't hit Florrie, that's why she and Joy had been so pissed about it.

She thought she'd be just as mad if it had been Joy, come to that. It wasn't like Meaghan. There wasn't any reason to hit her housemates. Even before they'd been housemates and when they were fighting, Meaghan hadn't hit Joy. It would've just been stupid and pointless and wrong.

She wasn't sure why that was, exactly.

Florrie held Meaghan for a good long time, both because she needed to hug Meaghan and because she seemed to need a lot of hugs in general right now. "You don't ever let anyone hit you, all right? Meaghan McCormack, you deserve better than that."

She wanted to say that she wasn't going around just letting people hit her, at least not without hitting back, and that it was a fight anyway, and that was the whole point: getting it all out, fists and feet and forehead if it came down to that. She wanted to say that it'd helped, because it had, and that it hadn't been a coach-player thing really, just a her and Ellie thing and they happened to also be a player and a coach.

They'd had a punch-up, had a drink, got healed and both been the better for it. Why was that hard to understand?

But she couldn't say that to Florrie. So she just said, "Okay," in the same surprised/confused tone, but a bit more subdued than she'd been for the rest of the conversation.

The fact that this was so confusing to Meaghan concerned Florrie quite a bit, but obviously today wasn't the time to address that. Florrie had made her opinion on hitting clear so that was enough for one day. But there was another question she wanted to ask Meaghan, and this was a good chance for that. "Come sit with me for a bit and we can see what looks tasty for the party. And maybe we can talk about lads."

That was a bit less confusing. Food was always fine, even the healthy crap, and as for lads, she figured Florrie wanted to talk about Cav. What with the whole them both having shagged him thing. Some folks minded that for some reason. "Yeah, sure," she said, switching sofas. This was less feelings-y and confusing, so it was a more than welcome change of subject. "Something potatoes maybe? Folks like potatoes." And they were a veg, whatever anyone (including present company) might say, so that made them plenty healthy for a party.

"Something with a sweet potato, maybe chips, and we can put out sauces for them, or roast them with herbs." That would be tasty and nutritious and hearty, and so Florrie started looking for recipes for them. "I think you already know about me and Cav, possibly, under the circumstances, more that we needed," but she was smiling wryly. "but I don't know anything about Dunbar Oglethorpe, who keeps turning up everywhere you go. Tell me about him."

"Dungface?" Meaghan said, surprised. There wasn't that much to tell, but she shrugged and did so, watching for titles and pictures as Florrie flipped through her book. "Uhh, started out with Montrose but switched over to ours a couple after, s'mum's a supporter, she's a Dunbar so that's where he got the dumbarse name, played chaser and then quit like a quitter a couple back. Got a couple tiny useless sisters. Hold on -- that one looked good. Turn back, turn back."

Florrie flipped back to the recipe in question and made a charm copy that they could take into the kitchen and splatter grease on before she replied. "So is he just a friend, or is he a shag, or is he something else, because he certainly does spend a lot of time with you? And is he coming Friday?"

"Doesn't spend that much," she said, waving away the question. He'd spent more back before he left them. Teammates were around each other a lot, but now he had more important things to do. Meaghan frowned as Florrie went back to turning pages. "And I invited him, but who knows what Mr. Bigshot QUABBLE bastard'll do really, might decide he's too good for the likes of us."

"Nonsense, he'll be here." Florrie waved that concern off. "He answers everything you write in the journals and I know I saw you with him at the Pride Gala."

Meaghan squinted as she thought back, then shook her head. "Not everything." There were a couple things she was pretty sure he hadn't wrote her over, but it wasn't like she kept track or anything. "Anyways he's a mate, mates write you, that's the point of mates partly."

"I don't think he wants to be that sort of mate is what I'm saying, Meaghan." Florrie elbowed her a little to make the point.

Meaghan snorted. "He just wants a shag now and then too, to break things up. And he gets it, so I reckon he's fine." She reached around Florrie to turn a page, and added casually, "All that proposal shit's just joking really."

Florrie had been about to say As long as you're fine with it, but the last bit stopped her cold in her tracks. "Back up the broom here! What proposal shite?"

She shot Florrie a you're-kidding-right look, because everyone in Quid practically knew about him doing that -- but then, that was right, all things considered Florrie hadn't really been around that long. So she shrugged instead, and said, "He does it sometimes, is all. Doesn't mean anything by it but to hack me off."

Florrie was frowning now, but the sort of frown that meant she was putting two and two together and someone was telling her the answer was three. "Why would he ask you to marry him to get under your skin? Is this an old joke or something? Is there some reason he thinks you don't suit that makes it funny to him?"

Meaghan rolled her eyes. "Sure it's old, he's been asking for years, since before Don even." That was probably when he'd meant it, or at least that was what she reckoned. After Donnie, well, it was obvious it was just a joke then, to poke fun at her for fucking that up probably. "That one's always messing 'round. He wouldn't keep on if it was real."

"Have you told him to stop, that you don't like it?" Surely if he was Meaghan's mate, he'd stop teasing her if she asked. Right?

Would he? Meaghan wasn't sure. He fucked off when she told him to, but this was different.

Maybe he did it to get her back for the one time he'd meant it. It'd make sense. She probably should've realized that but she'd never known he ever meant it before.

But he didn't mean it now so it was okay. She could take some teasing. Telling him to really stop would only show how much she didn't like it. "It hacks me off, so he knows well enough."

Florrie might not be any good at solving the dilemma of the Ellie and Cav but she could certainly solve this problem for Meaghan. "Either he means it or he doesn't, and if he means it on some level, he'll care enough to honour your request. And if he doesn't mean it, telling him to stop ought to be enough to stop him if he's really a friend. And if he keeps on after being asked not to, then ... that tells you something else."

Meaghan shook her head. "Doesn't matter," she said abruptly. It wasn't that big a deal. She could put up with it as much as she had to put up with it. She had done for yonks, and it only came up now and then (though twice in the last couple months now), and it just felt weirder lately because she wasn't seeing him as much as she used to, so she was getting it less, so she was out of practice. Not like he was asking three times a week at practice to distract her from the quaffle. "It's just a joke. I can take a joke."

"You shouldn't have to, though." Which was all Florrie thought it was necessary to say on that subject. She pointed at a recipe that looked particularly interesting, or at least the photo of the result looked tasty, and not dripping with grease. "Now here, what do you think of this one?"